Insight 83 - Railways in Crisis

This Insight programme covers railway staff losses in New Zealand with the loss of 17% of National Union of Railwaymen members. It features interviews with Railways Minister George Gair and the Chairman of NZ Railways Corporation Mr Lyndsay Papps about service cut backs and the impact of deregulation of land transport.
Other topics include employee loyalty and generational employment, suspicions of management, comparisons made with American Railways and Air New Zealand, discussions around passenger train subsidy, superannuation and the loss of 40 jobs in Westport representing 1.5% of the total of Railway NZ's employees.
Railways historian and writer, David Leitch questions the Ministry’s figures for passenger services and deregulation, Dr Phillip Laird says the changes pose a “complete and costly disaster” and Union President, David Finlayson shares his thoughts on the pending job losses.